US-based biomass giant buys Grangemouth wood-fuel firm in £50m UK investment spree

Los Angeles-based Arensis, a global provider of off-grid energy generation, has bought the Verdo pellet plant in Grangemouth from Verdo Renewables.

The acquisition, part of a £50 million UK investment plan, gives Arensis a sustainable, carbon-neutral fuel supply for its biomass energy generation.

With 185 power systems in operation across the country, Arensis currently delivers 85 per cent of all small-scale biomass generation in the UK. Its biomass generators rely on a reliable supply of clean, sustainable fuel. 

The Verdo pellet plant creates more than 60,000 tonnes of wood pellets per year.The pellets produced are high quality – producing up to 15 per cent more energy than some imported pellets – and are entirely renewable, and sourced from local, sustainably grown virgin timber. It is one of the only UK pellet producers to source 100 per cent local materials.

Arensis will also install 30 Entrade biomass generators at the pellet plant site itself, to power manufacturing operations,reducing the carbon footprint further. It will maintain all jobs at the Verdo plant, and hopes to boost job numbers in the near future.

Stuart Banks, EVP of UK Operations and former Plant Director of the Grangemouth site, said: “By bringing the Verdo pellet plant into Arensis’ portfolio, we can streamline the entire process of off-grid energy generation, integrating fuel production, technology deployment, logistics and project management into one sustainable, country level operation.”

Julien Uhlig, Chief Executive, Arensis, said: “The Grangemouth site meets our needs in terms of production, but also provides particularly reliable feedstocks. 

“This is important because having a good baseline product allows us to carry out better comparative research on new feedstocks, especially waste products which we want to help customers turn into biomass fuel.

“The UK has now become our business and technology testing site.”

1 Sept 2017